During the 1999 British Open Golf Championship, golfer Jean Van de Velde approached the 18th hole tee with golf ball in hand and a massive point lead over his opponents.  The first swing of his club drove a shot right in front of the surrounding crowd of concentrated onlookers and into a small field of large grass 20 yards away from the green.  His second hit landed right into a shallow murky pond, and after he took off his shoes and hit the ball from the water, the third hit landed in sand.

Van de Velde demonstrates exactly what happens when people choke under situations of stress and pressure, something that this year’s visiting scientist, neuro-psychologist Dr. Sian Beilock, studies.  Last Wednesday, Beilock delivered a Morning Ex and an evening lecture at Parker on performing at your best under stress.  

Beilock, a Professor of Psychology at the University of Chicago, has published two books, one in 2011 titled Choke and one in 2015 titled How the Body Knows Its Mind.  Her first book is filled with advice on how not to choke in high-pressure situations, and her second book focuses on how our bodies and our surroundings affect how we think, learn, and behave.  

For those seeking stress-coping strategies, Beilock suggests taking walks in nature, getting off of smartphones, and relaxing the brain by taking breaks during stressful situations.  She further recommends sleeping well, practicing under the conditions that performing will be under, and approaching situations with confidence, open body language, and a positive mindset.  As for those negative thoughts: journal them out.  

“She’s definitely someone who is a very skilled communicator and is able to think about not only her particular research but other research that is related to hers and communicate that in a way that is accessible to a broad audience,” science teacher Adam Colestock, who introduced Beilock at the MX, said, “which is exciting to have in a visiting scientist coming here.”

Her studies of the brain and especially the frontal cortex demonstrate the science behind stress.  While studying people who were given math problems while inside an MRI, she found that the same signals that light up when people react to painful situations, such as running in fear from something or burning your hand, lit up for the math problems.  

People also choke, Beilock found, when the brain starts focusing too much on the negatives and not the positives, or on performance details that are normally run on autopilot.

“If you just made a really great golf hole,” Beilock said, “you wouldn’t know what to say if someone just came up to you and said, ‘That was a great shot, how did you move your elbow?’”  

The science department chose Beilock as this year’s visiting scientist after noticing her at a series of Ted-like talks at the University of Chicago last spring.  The department believed a lot of students would be interested in her studies, according to Colestock.  Upper School English teacher Cory Zeller’s mother and seventh grade history teacher Anthony Shaker’s uncle, who both work with infectious diseases such as Ebola, were also considered.

“Sometimes we’ve put ideas out there to get really famous scientists, and I think we could get those people, but they’d fly in for a day and then would leave, so it’s kind of hard logistically,” Lesinski said.  “This year, it was great that we got someone who was both local and who resonates well with students.”

Beilock will return to Parker later this winter and then two more times in the spring.  On her visit last Wednesday, she also visited with teachers around the school and discussed ways to get involved with their curricula, such as gym teacher Jan Zoufal’s “Mat and Mind” yoga class.  On December 9, she’ll help the fifth grade in their STEM week program, meet with seniors to discuss the college process and strategies for dealing with stress, and work with Bridget Lesinski’s Advanced Biology class.

“In advanced biology, we study neurology, so we’re going to try to do a deep dive into her lab and what she works on,” Lesinski said.  “It’s really interesting how she studies what parts of the brain are active when people are trying to solve problems.”

In early spring students will be able to visit Beilock’s laboratory at the University of Chicago and meet with her graduate students who are working on different projects.  The last interaction is yet to be determined.